Don't pass me by
by doomzoom
Summary: After Vanille crashes her car Serah lets her stay with her and Lightning until she gets better. Much to Lightning's dismay.


"Ughhhh I hate today. I hate today. I hate today. Man I wish I could just go the fuck home." said Vanille as she gripped the worn leather of the steering wheel in her rust bucket of a car "First my long time boyfriend cheats on me. Then I'm late for work because he took the stupid alarm clock with him out of some kind of spite and I cried myself to sleep and last but not least this stupid. Car. Sucks!…" She glanced at the time on her watch and groaned, knowing full well she was late and was more than likely going to get chewed out by her boss. Her car sputtered and groaned the more she pushed it past it's comfort levels.

Vanille shifted the gears again in a feudal attempt of getting it to shift into third with less sputtering than the last time."Piece of garbage!" she yelled as her hopes were quickly dashed by the violent shake the car gave in protest, but somehow did do what she had asked and sped faster down the street. A wild smile spread across her face as she yelled with joy.

Not three minutes later she was starting to pass by a park and spotted a familiar pink haired girl jogging in nothing but a black sports bra and matching skin tight leggings, leaving nothing to her everlasting imagination. Vanille shifted her car to a slower pace not taking her eyes off Lightning for even a second. Not wanting to miss a single second of Light's lean and lethal body bouncing up and down in the light of the rising sun.

As Vanille remained distracted she turned the wheel to pull over and catch the pink haired girl but much to Vanille's immediate regret she miss judged the speed of her clunker of a car and rammed into a nearby pole. The steering wheel smashed downwards into pelvis and she could was sure at least three ribs were broken from the impact of her chest against the wheel. The airbag didn't deploy until several seconds after the initial crash, causing Vanille to slam back in her seat and get what remained of the air in her lungs knocked out of her.

The disruptive sound of a car crash sounded through Lightning's earphones. She turned her head over to its source and Lightning's stomach dropped at the sight of the all too familiar car she had told Vanille to get rid of on more than one occasion. _No no no please be okay._ Thought Light as she ran as fast as she could to the car.

Grabbing hold of the handle she tugged on it to no avail. _Fuck it's stuck._ Lightning grunted with effort as she put her foot against the side of the door and put her full weight and strength into pulling it open. It soon groaned and a loud snap sounded before the door opened just enough for Light to climb in and punch back the airbag. "You better not die on me Vanille." said Light as she assessed the situation and whether or not it was safe enough to pull her out of seat without anymore injuries.

Light cut Vanille's seat belt with the knife she kept clipped to her waist and slowly pushed the steering wheel off Vanille as much as she was able to before carefully slipping her arms around Vanille's neck and legs and hoisting her out of the car and far away from it.

Light pulled her phone out of her back pocket and called for backup. "Officer Farron requesting back up. I just witnessed a car crash and managed to pull out the victim, but I need an ambulance dispatched right away I'm not sure how long she's going to last… Fuck she's not breathing, I'm going to start chest compressions now."

"Copy that, I'm going to require your location." asked the deep gruntal voice of the operator.

"I'm on Winter street in front of Eagle park." Lighting heard the operator type and stayed on the phone for them to better pin her location.

She set her phone on speaker, tossed it to the side, and began her chest compressions on Vanille. _Come on, come on, breathe damn you._ The second she finished counting she breathed deeply and bent down to meet Vanille's lips with her own to push the air into her lungs. Light took another breath and breathed another puff of air into Vanille. Lightning began her compressions again and after three more Vanille began to cough and dowzilly opened her bright green eyes.

Everything in Vanille's sight was bright and blurry. No matter how many times she blinked she couldn't make sense of the world around her. Other than the pink haired figure that was looming over her. The rising sun shined through her hair in such a way that a bright halo framed the bright flowing hair around her head.

The angel seemed to be yelling something at her but Vanille couldn't make out the words over the loud ringing in her ears. She gave the angel a lazy smile and said, "I… Have never seen something as be-u- tiful as youuuu."

Lightning's cheeks began redden and she began to stumble her words. "I uh um well I.." out of all of the things she had expected Vanille to say, that was the very last thing that would have crossed her mind.

"Wuut happened?" mumbled Vanille as she began to feel sleep pull her back down.

"You were in a car crash… Vanille? Hey. Vanille! Wake up!" Lightning lightly tapped her hand against Vanille's face in hopes that she would wake up. Not wanting to smack her too roughly because of the possible damage that has been done to her skull. She watched Vanille's skull lull to the side and her breathing begin to rasp.

Light was seconds away from grabbing her phone and yelling at the operator when she heard the sweet sounds of sirens approaching her. Her shoulders relaxed a small fraction before tensing again when she saw who the paramedic jumping out of the vehicle was. Lightning ignored the building annoyance of seeing the man again after what had happened the last time they had met and maintained an air of professionalism.

"Hope… Get over here quickly I'm not sure how much time Vanille has left."

The pale haired man nodded and rushed over to Vanille while trying to ignore the discomfort he felt about being around Lightning again. He pulled the gurney behind himself as he rushed over to Lightning and with her help they were able to carefully hoist Vanille onto the gurney and rush her into the ambulance. Lightning jumped into the back with him and he pounded his fist against the wall that connected him to the driver side to signal for the driver to book it. He began to check Vanille's vitals and hooked her to an ekg to monitor her heart.

After a long moment of silence and doing his best to make sure Vanille was as comfortable as possible he began to say, "...You know Light I'm-" as he mentally checked off what to tell the doctor when he saw them.

"Not now Hope. We need to take care of Vanille first and then _maybe_ I'll let you talk." with that Light put and end to the conversation.

Hope frowned and smoothed down is white button down before continuing to do his job as if Lightning wasn't there at all. They went along in tense silence, Lightning making an attempt to help Hope when she could with her limited knowledge of first aid.

Hope noticed they were approaching the hospital and knew for a fact Lightning was not going to let him apologize after leaving the truck. "Look Lightning I'm sorry for kissing you at the bar. I thought things were going well and that you were into me…" He rushed out without thinking.

Lightning sighed and said, "Hope there is no way in hell I'd ever date anyone like you. For one thing I don't date people that try to shove tongue down my throat after two drinks in because they think I'm 'into them', you should really learn how to treat women first if you ever want any type of woman to pay any real attention to you. Second I don't regret punching you so hard I knocked a tooth out, so if you expected an apology from me for that it can go right out the window and third I harbor no feelings for any man."

"You mean.."

"Yes Hope. I'm very gay." Lightning watched Hope's shoulders sag and couldn't help but compare him to a kicked puppy. The ambulance suddenly stopped, jerking Lighting and Hope to the side.

"We're here!" yelled the driver. No doubt uncomfortable with the conversation he just overheard.

"Alright Hope snap out of it and do your job." Hope nodded and did his best to listen to Lightning as they pulled Vanille out of the ambulance and over to the hospital doors. The nurse that had been there to greet them quickly wrote down everything Hope had noted as he treated her in the truck.

Light followed along until a nurse in dark maroon scrubs stopped her in her tracks. "Are you immediate family?"

"...No" said Lightning after a pause.

"Then you are going to have to wait out here until further notice." The nurse left abruptly leaving Lightning annoyed at not being able to follow her friend.

"I need to tell Serah anyway…" said Lightning to no one in particular as patted her back pocket for her phone and sighed when she noticed the long spidery crack along the dark screen of the phone. _Damn thing must have cracked when I tossed it to the side to give Vanille CPR._ Light dialed up Serah's contact and hoped Sereah had remembered charge her phone for once.

"Hey Claire what's up?" said Serah just before the phone rang one last time and going straight to voicemail.

"Hey Serah… There's no easy way to say this but" Lightning took a deep breath and said, "… Vanille is the the hospital. I think her car had some kind of malfunction and she ended up crashing into a pole-"

"What?!" yelled Serah as Lightning heard some kind of scuffle on the other end of the line. "I'll be right there." Serah promptly hung up the phone on Lighting the second she told her the name of the hospital they had brought her to.

Lightning stared at her phone for a few moments longer before she went to sit down and clear her schedule for the day. She grimaced at the name of her commanding officer _This is going to be fun._ Lighting called Amador and patiently waited from him to answer.

"Officer Farron what can I do for you today?" he said in a is typical light hearted tone.

"I'm going to need a favor. I'm not going to be able to come into work today and I need someone to cover my shift for today..." Lighting leaned back in her chair and waited to be scolded for missing work again.

"What did Lumina do this time? I haven't gotten a call from that area today so it can't have been too illegal."

Lightning chuckled, "For once I'm not going to miss work because of Lumina. A friend of mine was in a car crash and I have to wait until she comes out of the ICU."

"Take all the time you need Light. It's important to stick close to loved ones in their time of need… But just so you know trivia night is next friday and I am going to need a ringer and it looks like you signed yourself up for that with me." He laughed and Lighting could just feel the dread of it creeping up on her.

"Please tell me you're not trying to force me to go to trivia night with you again capitan… remember what happened last time?"

"Hey the other team cheated and you know it." he said defensively.

Light hummed with acknowledgement and said, "Fine I'll go, but only if the drinks are free."

"They will be when we win!" With that he hung up the phone, leaving Lighting to dread the on coming days.

Lighting stared at the waiting room's ceiling, worry creasing her brow the longer she sat in wait for the doctor to come by with news. Serah soon arrived in record time, dragging a tall bumbling blonde in her wake. Lightning rolled her eyes and stood to give her sister a hug.

"Did you really have to bring _him_ with you? I'm sure you could have managed to drive yourself here without him." said Lightning as she pulled away from Serah's hug.

"I need him for emotional support Claire. I'm not as strong as you when it comes to these things…" Serah crossed her arms and glared at Lighting.

"Serah you can be very strong if you put your mind to it. You don't really need him."

Snow cleared his throat and said, "You know sis I'm standing right here."

Lighting turned her glare to Snow, of whom almost shrunk back under her gaze. "Call me sis one more time and I will cut your dick off and shove it down your throat." Snow's mouth dried as he forced himself not to take a step back.

"Hey don't talk to him like that Claire. He's my boyfriend and you should respect him." Serah said as she stepped in between Lighting and Snow.

"I'll respect the person you date the moment they are worth respecting. That idiot you call a boyfriend has not yet proven he is even worth my time or yours. You can do better than him…" Serah was about to go on a tirade when Light stopped her, "Anyway this isn't about him. It's about Vanille…"

Serah's shoulder's sagged and said, "How is she? Has the doctor told you anything about her condition?"

Light shook her head, "I haven't seen the doctor since they dragged her into the ICU but it hasn't been long so I think it's going to be a while before they have any real updates." Light decided to keep the more gruesome details about Vanille almost dying in her arms to herself. _She doesn't need to know that right now. It'll only make her worry more._ Thought Light as she guided Serah over to the lavender colored chairs in the waiting room. Paying no mind to Snow that just trailed behind them in silence.

They sat in moderate silence. Only light small talk popping up here and there. Serah stayed cuddled up to Snow, much to Lightning's disapproval. Meanwhile Lightning busied her mind with lists of things she would need to do once she was back to work tomorrow morning. She just knew she was going to be swamped just from one day of calling off. She tried to relax to the best of her ability but couldn't seem to with the knowledge of Vanille fighting for her life in the other room. Sure she was more Serah's friend than hers but that didn't mean she didn't care about what happened to her. Especially with the amount of repercussions her death would have on Serah.

Hours passed and a tall black man with a large afro and lab coat stepped out of the large double doors that lead to the ICU. "Family of Vanille Oerba?"

"Here!" Yelled Serah from across the room as she rushed over to the doctor.

"Hi my name is Doctor Katzroy. It's nice to meet you. Now about Vanille's condition…"

"What's the prognosis?" said Serah with worry thick in her tone.

"Well she's currently still in surgery but she should be out within the hour. She had a lot of internal bleeding that they are still patching up and around four broken ribs with a herniated disc to top. Oh and a really bad concussion and a broken wrist. I'd be surprised if she remembered anything from the crash. Along with some shrapnel cuts that's about it." He looked up from the chart and gave them a comforting smile.

"So like when's she gonna get better?" Snow said and almost surprising the doctor, he hadn't even noticed him very much.

"She should really be in full bed rest for a minimum of six to eight weeks and also do some minor physical therapy for her back and wrist. If she doesn't her spine will never heal correctly and she will be in pain more times than not and then require more surgery to fix that."

"Me and Light are gonna make sure she goes when she needs to. Right Light?" said Serah with optimism coloring her tone and reluctantly Lightning nodded.

The doctor nodded and said "Alright I'll keep you updated as to when Vanille is ready for visitors." The doctor began to walk away

Serah gasped and smacked her hand to her forehead. "We forgot to call Fang… she's still out of state visiting family… and we sure as hell can't call Noel to take care of her considering what Vanille told me happened between them last night."

"I'll go call Fang." said Lightning as she pulled out her phone once again to look up the girl's contact info.

"Oh what if we took her in while she got better? I mean all we have to do is keep the pills away from Lumina and we're golden."

"That's a great idea babe." Snow wrapped his arm around Serah and Lightning was interrupted by Fang answering her phone.

Lightning really didn't want another mouth to feed in her home but she knew full well that Serah wasn't going to budge in this issue. _Looks like we are going to have a house guest for the foreseeable future._ Lightning tried not to let her tiredness bleed into her voice as she tried to calm Fang. It took longer that she thought it would to keep Fang calm on the other line and convince her that Vanile was fine and in good hands.

"Yes Fang the doctor said she is expected to make a full recovery… No I'm sure you don't have to pay an exceedingly large amount of money to get a new plane ticket just to get back here. I know for a fact you save all year just to be able to fly out to see your parents… yes Fang I promise we will take care of her… Alright goodbye." Light hung up the phone and heard Snow giggling.

"Look Serah, the rare sight of Lighting caring. Look in wonder at this rare sight." Snow laughed again and Light was seconds away from decking him when Dr. Katzroy walked back into the room.

Serah stood up and half ran to the doctor, "Is everything alright? Is she alive? Can we see her?"

The doctor held up his hand to quiet Serah and said, "She's fine. Although towards the end of her surgery her heart did stop for just a few seconds due to enhanced stress on it from a preexisting condition but everything is fine now and she is resting in her room."

"WHAT?! What do you mean a preexisting condition? How serious is it? Is it going to happen again? Is she just going to up and die on us one day? Is-"

Lightning placed a hand on Serah's shoulder and stopped her ramblings, "Serah let him speak. He can't answer your questions if you don't let him answer the ones you've already asked." Serah nodded and leaned against Light for support.

Dr. Katzroy nodded and said, "Thank you miss. Now to answer your questions the pre-existing condition is called a ventricular septal defect. Which in layman's terms is called a hole in the heart." Light's hand on Serah's shoulder tightened to remind her to let the doctor finish before interrupting. "Normally this heals by the time someone is ten years old but in some cases the hole never heals fully. While this is usually just a simple defect that only causes a slight heart murmur. Due to the added stress of the crash and surgery the heart couldn't manage to sustain proper blood flow and just gave out during but she really is fine now. She's showing signs of making a full recovery even though we are watching her vitals just to make sure."

Serah visibly relaxed and Light loosen her grip on her shoulder. "If you would like to see her you can but I'm only going to allow two of you to enter so that you don't crowd the patient."

"Me and Serah will be the ones to go in. Snow you can either go home or wait outside." said Lightning as she began to follow the doctor to the Vanille's room. Glad to not have Snow creeping around Lighting relaxes slightly and listens in for Serah's quick footsteps following behind them.

Lighting followed the man to a room labeled 537C and walked into the room to see a pale Vanille attached to a series of different tubes and wires. Serah immediately pushed past Lighting to claim the chair right next to Vanille's bed. Dr. Katzroy silently walked out of the room and Light was left standing with not much else to do but pull up one of the chairs from one of the corners of the room and sit next to Serah for emotional support.

They sat there for hours, Light only leaving to get Serah some food and a change of clothes for herself because she knew there was no possible way for Serah to leave her best friend's side until she woke up, but she had to try.

"Serah don't you have school tomorrow? You need to go home and sleep. You've been here for hours and Vanille really isn't going to go anywhere." said Lighting.

"I do but I really don't want Vanille to wake up alone… She's been going through alot lately and waking up confused and in a hospital would be the last thing I would want for her." Serah reached out and held Vanille's hand.

 _Don't do it Light… Don't do it… Don't-_ "What if I promise to stay here and wait until she wakes up. I'll stay for as long as you're at home and in school so that Vanille will never be alone and you can be at ease knowing someone she trusts will be with her." _Got fucking dammit you just had to be nice. Now you have to skip another day of work and you have to sleep in a chair._

Lighting watched Serah as she mulled the offer and placed her hand on her shoulder to make Serah look her in the eyes. "Really Serah it's no problem. You need to go home and sleep. Maybe send me a text saying if Lumina made it home today or not."

"But-" Serah began.

"Serah really just go home. I'll be here."

Serah sighed and said, "Fine. But you better not leave her alone for one second."

Serah stared at Lighting with an unrelenting gaze until Light said "I promise." with that Serah gave Light a hug goodbye and hesitantly made her way out of the room with only one last look back to see Light sitting down where Serah had just been.

The second Light heard the door softly close behind her she leaned back in her chair and sighed. She didn't particularly want to fulfill this promise and just wished she was back home curled up on her sofa watching a documentary or sharpening her knives, but she was stuck here waiting for a girl she was only okay friends with to wake up.

 _What a life you live Lightning. So great. So exciting._ Lightning's eyes slowly drifted closed, only to be startled awake by a nurse coming in to check on Vanille's vitals and to check if everything was fine. _Sleep is gonna be impossible with all these people walking in._ Lighting began to look though the room for something to entertain herself with, knowing full well her training would never let her go into a deep enough of a sleep to truly relax in the hospital.

Eventually the only source of entertainment she found was a gossip magazine that had been left abandoned in the drawer of the night stand next to the bed. "I hate this… Did I die and go to some weird form of purgatory?" said Light and she flopped down in her chair and mindlessly read it. She hated every second of. She hated every word of it and almost threw the thing away in disgust after reading it.

Light sighed and tossed the offencive book back on the drawer she had found it in, not wanting to see the bright eye catching colors any longer. She pulled out her phone and sent Serah a text saying.

 _L- How in hell can anyone read that gossip garbage? It's complete trash that only talks about other celebrity problems no one could give a single rats ass about. I doubt anyone would care that some dude named Cloud broke up with this Tifa chick for what sounds like the millionth time._ _ **Who even are these people?**_ _And why would anyone care? Please for goodness sake when you swing by tomorrow bring me anything from my bookshelf._

 _S- whaaaat? they broke up? they were so cute together!_

 _L- … Please tell me that is not all you gathered from the conversation._

 _S- yeahh yeahh celeb garbage whatever just let me be upset that my otp got shot down_

Serah then sent a series of sad emojis. Leaving Light to contemplate the future of humanity and if this conversation was really going to get anywhere.

 _L- What is an otp?... You know what don't answer that. It will only serve to frustrate me further. Now can you please get me some books next time you come by?_

 _S- sure i'll get you your books. you're gonna need a change of clothes too right? I know you changed at some point from your workout clothes but I have a feeling you're gonna need another change._

 _L- Yes please. A change of clothes would be great._

 _S- Alright claire I'll drop it off before school tomorrow but I'm gonna go to bed now. goodnight claire, love you._

Serah then sent a series of hearts and kisses to which only responded a simple ' _love you too.'_ and pulled up tetris on her phone to pass the time. _This really should have been my first option. Who cares if there is a high possibility to cut up my finger on the broken glass, anything is better than that abomination I just read._ Thought Lighting as she carefully swiped at the moving block on her screen.

Lighting slowly drifted to sleep as time went on and was always jolted awake by a nurse coming by to do her nightly round to check in on Vanille. This same cycle continued over and over again through the night and some of the morning and just as Light was seconds away from planning out her escape attempt Serah walked in with a small backpack full of snacks, clothes and books.

"Good morning Claire! Did you sleep at all? You look a bit worn out." said Serah as she handed the dark green pack over to Lighting's waiting hand.

"I slept some, just not much because of the noise the nurses made walking in and out kept waking me up." Lighting suppress a yawn and began to rifle through the bag for any possible food Serah may have brought for her. Light quickly pulled out her fresh clothes and one of the power bars Serah had packed for her to munch on as she dressed.

"You know I brought you actual food right? There is a container in there with some breakfast I made you." said Serah as she watched Light walk away and towards the bathroom.

"Yeah I know I saw. I just need the extra calories to keep me awake." responded Light before leaving Serah to change her clothes. When she returned she spotted an orange tupperware container with a small yellow post-it note stuck to it sitting on Vanille's bed with no Serah in sight.

It read, ' _ **hey Claire I had to leave or else I would have been late. Eat your breakfast and I'll see you later.'**_ Lighting put her old clothes into the green pack Serah had given her and began to eat the breakfast she had brought her. It was a simple scrambled eggs with a side of toast but with Lighting's hunger it tasted like heaven, even if it was a bit bland.

She passed the day much better than the night before. She had a large travel mug full of black coffee and a series of novels to occupy her time. The background noise of a busy hospital mixed with the rhythmic beeping of Vanille's heart monitor helped the hours pass smoothly, before she knew it she had read through 'Slaughterhouse five' and was part of the way into 'The Grapes of Wrath' when she had finished the last of her coffee.

By the time Light had reached the part of the book where they had finally reached California Serah walked into the room with a rather large lunch for Lighting. "Hey Claire, did you enjoy your books?" she said as she set the food down next to Lightning.

"W-" started Light but was interrupted by the sound of her phone going off. When she picked it up to glance at the number it as the number of Lumina's principal glaring at her. Lighting sighed and didn't bother with formalities. "What did Lumina do this time? I swear if she set the chemistry room on fire again…"

The older man on the other end of the line chuckled and said, "Well no fire this time. Although we do have reason to believe she loaded the staff's coffeemaker with laxatives and also released a swarm of spiders and frogs in the girls restroom."

Lightning knew the drill, she knew when they said 'reason to believe' it meant they didn't have any actual evidence on Lumina and wanted her to go down there in person to pry some sort of confession out of her. "I'm sorry but I really can't go down there at the moment but I can send a friend of mine to go and collect Lumina."

The man hummed with annoyance thick in his tone. "Are you sure? Because if you can't come by we my have to… _encourage_ Lumina not to come to school for the next few days until we can get all of the damages sorted. Is that fine?"

"Yes that's fine. My friend should be by soon."

Soon after that the conversation ended and Lighting quickly called Amador, "Hello Officer Farron. What can I do for your today?"

"I need a favor…" With that Lighting explained the situation to him and he was more than willing to go and pick up Lumina while Lightning left to go and meet him at her house.

As Lighting dove up to her house she mentally prepared herself for the mandatory talking to she had to give Lumina, but as her shoulders sagged against the seat Light could finally feel the night's exhaustion that she had ignored for so long finally seeping into her bones. Her joints screamed in protest as she left her car and steeled herself to scold Lumina as best she could before going to her room and passing out for several hours before she had to go back to the hospital and trade places with Serah.

 _Why do you have to be a good person Light? You know you could have just made Serah go home and make her go to sleep so that she could go to school tomorrow. Sure she would hate you but one sister already does, what's both?_

Lighting shivered at the thought of her sisters conspiring together. She didn't know the kind of horrors her sisters could cook up if they really put their mind to it and she really wasn't keen on finding out anytime soon.

She tried to push the horrible thoughts to the back of her mind as she walked up her porch steps and opened their plain white wooden door to get into her house but as she did so she couldn't resist the urge to be on her guard. She just had a feeling that the moment she walked further into the house Lumina would have something planned for Light.

 _If Lumina is planning to distract me then whatever she did at school must have been worse than what the principal had said._ Thought Lighting as she soundlessly inched further into the house, making sure she made absolutely no sound as she closed the door and scanned the area for further threats. The long hallway was clear and Light had almost relaxed but the tension was back ten fold when she saw her boss in the last possible position she ever wanted to see him in.

He had somehow been knocked out, stripped, and tied to a chair that faced the the entrance that lead into the living room. Somehow worst of all he seemed to have a number of highly detailed penises drawn all over his body with the words ' _cock sucker'_ written across his neck in very fine and ornate calligraphy.

"LUMINA ELANA FARRON! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW." yelled Lighting so loudly that she managed to slightly wake Amador.

"Ugh Light how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? It's a stupid name" whined Lumina as she casually walked out of the kitchen with a freshly made sandwich in hand, paying no mind the the very naked man she had tied up minutes earlier.

Lighting glared at the girl and said, "What the hell is this Lumina? You do know that pulling a stupid stunt like this could get me fired or worse get you sent to prison if he chooses to press some kind of charge against you?"

The sixteen year old just shrugged and took a bite from her sandwich. Knowing full well Lighting was about to on an overly long speel about 'responsibility', 'jail', and 'life'. All of which Lumina had tuned out long ago as she planned out how to escape the house later to meet up with her dealer. Lumina glanced at the man she had tied up and only felt a little bad for doing it. The man had been there for Light countless times and was sure not to press any kind of charge just out of sheer kindness. While proud of the dicks she had drawn on him she did feel it was a tad bit much for the little she needed to piss off her sister and make her forget to ask about what had happened in the school.

"Hey I think he's waking up." said Lumina as she watched the man take in his surroundings with a deely confused expression on his face.

"Amador are you alright? I'm not sure what method used to knock you out and I need to know if you're feeling signs of a concussion." Lighting said matter of factly before looking back to Lumina with a glare.

"I think I'm all right. My head hurts a bit but it's really nothing to worry about." He said in a mild attempt to calm the situation.

"You're lucky he's okay Lumina. If he had suffered any sort of serious injury your ass would be in hot water. The co-"

Amador cut her off the moment he noticed Lighting's face becoming red with anger. That combined with the deep circles under her eyes he really just wanted what was best for the situation and to make sure no one got hurt. "Really Light it's fine. Everything is fine. Lumina just pulled a small prank to annoy you and it's really my fault for falling for the oldest trick in the book. There was a quarter on the ground and I went to pick it up and then this happened."

Lighting sighed rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. Her migraine had been building for a long while and had just now managed to solidify and become yet another nuisance in her life. "Lumina could you please go and get his clothes from where ever you stashed them?"

Lumina shrugged and took her time walking out of the room and to the clothing's hiding place. She hadn't expected Amador to defuse the situation for her and hidden his clothes to add an extra layer of annoyance. Lumina took another bite out of her sandwich as the mild guilt grew just a little bit more. She really did regret involving a kind soul like Amador into this on going stage of rebellion.

Lighting grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and dropped it on the man's lap to conserve his modesty as she pulled out her knife and cut the heavy ropes off of him. Once he was free he rubbed his wrists and smiled.

"I guess it's been a while since I've been tied up, but then again that was a much different situation."

Light's nose wrinkled with distaste and said, "Ew Amador. I didn't need to know the kinds of things you and Lebreau do when you're alone..."

"Oh I'm sure you don't." He chuckled. "I mean you may be a bit too prudish for the kinds of things we get up to when she finally decides to call me for something other than a parking ticket." with the last comment he frowned and was about to say more but was interrupted by Lumina entering the room with a small pile of folded clothes in her hand.

"Here you go dude. Sorry about the mustard stain my sandwich decided to leak at the wrong time." she said as she handed him his clothes.

Amador gave her a small smile and said, "It's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean it."

Lumina gave him a forced smile and walked out the room before she could mention the amount of dicks she had drawn on him in permanent marker. Lighting let her leave and directed Amador to the closest bathroom. Once she was finally alone Lighting fled to the the upstairs bathroom to find anything to settle her migraine.

 _I guess I'm lucky my boss is too nice of a guy. Although I have the sneaking suspicion I am now going permanently be on his trivia team the second he sees everything Lumina drew on him._ Lighting sighed for what felt like the millionth time as she exited her bathroom to go tell Amador goodbye and give him an apology in Lumina's place.

When she made it back to the living room she noticed he was still absent and decided to sit down on the couch and rest. She knew Lumina was still in her room fully expecting Lighting to barge in and finish yelling at her but Lighting just didn't have the energy for any of that. The second her back hit the couch Lighting was down for the count. Not even twitching when Amador left the bathroom wildly upset about the vandalization of his body and only curling into herself when he placed a the throw blanket on her before leaving.

* * *

 _The cold bit into Lighting's skin as she lead her squad closer to the target. "Squad B are you covering the south entrance?"_

" _Affirmative." responded a ruff staticy voice._

" _Squad C are you scadderd enough to cover the windows?"_

" _You got it boss. Over." responded a staticy feminine voice._

" _Alright teams we only have one shot at this. Let's move." said Lighting as she began to walk faster towards the entrance with her gun pointed forward, expecting anything and everything on the other side of that door._

 _Heavy footsteps echoed behind her as she kicked down the wooden door, splintering it. Lighting marched forward hearing panicked steps running back and forth through the building but Lighting hardly cared, she was only there for one person. She heard her team scatter behind her as they apprehended several criminals. Most bearing the marks of their gang and even a surprising few from a rival gang._

 _Lighting's stomach twisted as she closed in on the boss's office. Lighting knew she was in there but that didn't mean it was any less difficult to kick the door down and see your youngest sibling sitting back in her chair with a large smirk stretched across her face. Gang tattoos littered lumina's arms and neck, and all that stood between her and Lighting was an ornate wooden desk._

" _Put your hands up… Anything you have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."_

" _Nothing to say Light? Not gonna yell at me? Ruff me up a bit? Call me a disappointment?" Lumina said cooly not even bothering to stand as Lighting walked closer to her._

" _You have the right to an attorney. If you desire an attorney and cannot afford one, an attorney will be obtained for you before police questioning…" when Lighting was finished reading Lumina her rights she was already around the desk and pulling the thin girl to her feet. Much to Lighting's surprise she didn't put up much of a fight. Maybe just knowing the fact that doing this was hurting Lighting more than anything she had said in the past._

 _Lighting's feet felt like lead as she dragged Lumina towards the exit. Never forgetting the smug smile the younger girl had plastered on her face the whole time and with a heavy heart Lighting half tossed Lumina in the back of her squad car. Knowing full well she was not ever going to see her sister in the free world ever again. Knowing she had failed her. Knowing that there was nothing she could do for her._

 _Lighting forced back tears as she walked around the car to drive her youngest sister to the station to be processed._

* * *

Lighting woke with a start, her heart practically beat out of her chest. With the amount of adrenaline coursing through her veins she felt as though she could run a mile. Lighting ripped off the blanket and curled into herself to calm her breathing.

 _It was just a dream. You can still save her. She's not going to end up like that._ Thought Lighting as she counted her breathes, forcing them to be far more drawn out and deeper with every breath she took. Lighting quickly scanned her surroundings and noticed it was already starting to get dark out when she glanced out the slits in the the half opened blinds.

 _SHIT. I'm going to be late switching off with Serah._ With that Lighting forced out all thoughts of her dream and rushed to the restroom to get a quick shower in before getting dressed for another inevitable sleepless night at the hospital.

Soon Lightning's hair was blow dried enough not to be dripping wet anymore and she was dressed in her comfy old grey police academy sweats and an old graphic tee Serah had given her as a joke one christmas. With that she was off to trade places with Serah for the night.

"Hey Clarie! I was just about to call but I had a feeling you were gonna get here soon anyway." Serah said as she stood to give her sister a warm hug.

"Hey Serah. Hows Vanille?" said Lighting as she tightened her hold on Serah knowing full well Serah was more than likely going to cry on her shoulder.

"The doctors say she's doing well and that she's not in super critical danger anymore. So I guess that's good, but I just can't stop the feeling of being useless as my friend just sits there rotting away in a coma and all I can do for her is cry and hope that she comes out of it. Claire I was reading about the chances of her pulling out of the coma and and…" Serah's voice cracked and her shoulders shook as she held on tight to her big sister.

"Hey hey you know not to read that WebMD garbage. They tell you you have seven types of cancer just from having a weird itch on your palm. You know Vanille is gonna get out of this Serah, she's always been too much of a fighter to let something like this get her down."

"But-"

"No buts. You are going to pack your things and go home and sleep for the night. Call a cab to pick you up. I don't want you taking the bus in this condition or driving my car with tear stained eyes. That's just dangerous."

Serah held on to Lighting for a few more moments before nodding her head and letting go. Knowing full well that Lighting wasn't going to let her stay with Vanille when she had tests tomorrow. Serah packed her things and wished Lightning a goodnight before calling Snow to pick her up. She knew that he would just want to use her emotional state to trick her into having sex with him, especially with Light out of the house, but she really didn't want to spent twenty bucks to go home when she could get a free ride from her boyfriend.

Lighting sat down in the same seat as the night before and grabbed 'The Grapes of Wrath' with a sigh. "Looks like it's gonna be just you and me again." said Lighting as she propped her feet up on the seat next to her and opened the book to the chapter she had left off on. As she read on she began to feel the drowsiness creep on the edges of her vision, blurring it until she was startled awake by a nurse entering to do her nightly rounds.

 _Fuck this shit I'm not about to go through this torture again. I'd rather just stay awake the whole night through than to get woken up every twenty minutes._ Thought Lighting as she tried to think of ways to keep herself awake. She looked down at her book and shrugged, "Fuck it." She found her place and began to read aloud, "The chair legs hit the floor. 'Don't you go a-sassin' me. I 'member you. You're one of these there troublemakers.' 'Damn right ," said Tom. 'I'm a bolshevisky.'" Lighting chuckled lightly and thought of Lumina and her rebellious nature. She couldn't help but think of her own family as she read on, not even thinking about the words or their meaning just about the amount she worried about them and wondering about the amount of things she would do for them.

Lighting thought of all the times she had beat up dealers that were after Lumina and scared off the douchebags Serah tended to get romantically involved with. Lighting had been the one to hold their family together after the death of their parents and she still wasn't sure how she hadn't gone crazy or seriously injured from the combination of her job and the dangers of pissing off possibly every dealer in town because of Lumina and her addictions. While Lighting had done her best to hold the last threads of her family together she sometimes contemplated it was all even worth it anymore.

* * *

 **A.N.**

 **Oh would you look at that. A story I've been working on for quite a while. I hope you guys like at and if you wanna know about what happened to my other story Burned Bread all I have to say about that is** _ **soon.**_ **Anyway I hoped you guys liked the first chapter of this and till next time peoples!**

 **p.s.- I do not own these characters.**


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